Teaching at AQS Quilt Show

Eleanor keeps a rigorous teaching schedule of hands-on, fun-filled classes that focus on the Quilt in a Day method that she first introduced 30 years ago. American Patchwork & Quilting followed her when she taught from her book Day & Night (2009, co-written with Michelle Countess) at the April 2009 AQS Quilt Show in Paducah, Kentucky.

Day & Night Pattern

The Day & Night pattern calls for a light to medium “day” fabric, a deeper contrasting “night” fabric, and one or two accents. Eleanor’s students make their strip sets from three fabrics. Here she shows a variation of the pattern that uses four fabrics.

The Beginning

“The blocks start out as strip sets,” Eleanor says of Day & Night. “It’s the ruler that helps you cut the shapes. When you put them together, there are lots of seams, but they lock together to make everything look perfect.”

All About Accuracy

Because students cut triangles from their strip sets and match up the points, Eleanor reminds them that the accuracy of the blocks rely on the accuracy of the strip sets’ 1/4-inch seam allowances. Learn how to create perfect 1/4-inch seams.

A Helping Hand

When it’s time to cut, Eleanor encourages her students to work from opposite sides of the table and help the person across the way cut her pieces. This way, each quilter stays in one place and no one has to rotate a cutting mat.

Teaching Basics

Class isn’t just a comic routine. When she teaches, Eleanor uses a TV monitor so students can get an up-close look at each step. “I’ve learned from my students to be direct and clear,” Eleanor says. She breaks the process down into basic steps. “I really try to keep people from being frustrated,” she says.

Time-Saving Tricks

After units are cut and pinned, Eleanor instructs students to create blocks with assembly-line stitching (or chain piecing), another one of her time-saving approaches. She first incorporated this technique into her own quilting during her early days of teaching when she noticed waistbands and pockets from a nearby clothing factory were sewn this way.

Block Assembly

Show-and-Tell

At the end of the day, students are encouraged to share their projects in a show-and-tell. Eleanor has shown the students how to use their scraps for other projects, so all that is left of the original kits is what she calls “fabric confetti.”